How long does it take to become a digital court reporter?

For most people, weeks to a few months — the time to complete a training course, obtain a notary commission, and pass the certification exam. That is the central contrast with the stenographic path, which typically takes two to four years of school to reach the required machine-shorthand speed and has a high attrition rate. The exact timeline depends on your state's rules and how much time you put into preparation.

What certification do digital court reporters need?

The recognized national credential is the Certified Electronic Reporter (CER) from AAERT — the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers, which in 2026 merged with STAR to form CAPTUR. The CER exam is a 188-question online test requiring 80 percent to pass, with a $275 fee, and candidates must have a high school diploma and be eligible for a notary commission. Whether certification is legally required depends on your state: some, such as Georgia and Michigan, require it; many states require none, though certification opens far more work.

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How to Become a Digital Court Reporter — the No-Steno-Machine Path Into the Record

Q: Do you need to go to school to become a digital court reporter?

No stenography school is required. Digital (electronic) court reporters capture the record with professional audio equipment instead of a stenotype machine, so the multi-year machine-shorthand training doesn't apply. The typical requirements are a high school diploma or equivalent, eligibility for a notary public commission, and — in most states that regulate the role — passing a certification exam such as AAERT's Certified Electronic Reporter (CER). Short training programs (many offered online by university continuing-education departments) prepare candidates for that exam, but AAERT requires only a high school diploma to sit for it; experience or coursework is recommended, not mandatory.

Q: Is a digital court reporter the same as an electronic court reporter?

Yes. "Digital court reporter" and "electronic court reporter" are used interchangeably for the same role: a trained professional who captures the official record using audio technology rather than a stenotype machine, administers the oath, marks exhibits, and produces or oversees the verbatim transcript. The recognized national credential even uses the older word — AAERT's Certified Electronic Reporter (CER).

Q: How much do digital court reporters make?

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $67,310 for court reporters and simultaneous captioners as of May 2024, with the lowest 10 percent under $39,100 and the highest 10 percent over $127,020. BLS reports this as a single occupation across all reporting methods — stenographic, voice, and digital — so there is no separate BLS figure for digital reporters alone. Freelance deposition reporters are typically paid per page of transcript on top of an attendance fee, so earnings vary widely with volume.

Published July 20, 2026 · Sources: AAERT / CAPTUR certification program, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, and state certification boards — cited directly

Quick answer: A digital court reporter — also called an electronic court reporter — captures the official record of a hearing, deposition, or trial using professional audio equipment instead of a stenotype machine. Because there's no machine shorthand to master, the path is short: a high school diploma, a notary public commission (you administer the oath), and, in most states that regulate the role, a certification exam — the recognized national one being AAERT's Certified Electronic Reporter (CER), now folded into the new CAPTUR organization. Requirements vary by state; some require the credential, many require none. The occupation's median pay is $67,310 (BLS, May 2024).

"Digital" and "electronic" mean the same thing

The two terms are used interchangeably in the industry, so don't let them confuse you. A digital court reporter is a trained human professional who captures the record with a multi-channel audio system, monitors it live, logs speakers and exhibits, administers the oath, and then produces the verbatim transcript or hands the recording to a transcriber who does. It is the same job whether the listing says "digital reporter," "electronic reporter," or "electronic recorder." The most recognized credential even keeps the older word: AAERT's Certified Electronic Reporter.

What separates it from the two other ways of making a record is the capture method, not the responsibility:

Method	How the record is captured	Training to enter
Stenographic	Machine shorthand typed on a stenotype at 200+ words per minute	Typically 2–4 years of steno school to reach speed
Voice (voice writing)	The reporter repeats everything into a covered mask, transcribed by speech software	Months of training plus certification
Digital / electronic	Professional audio equipment records the room; the reporter monitors, logs, and produces the transcript	Weeks to months plus a certification exam

All three keep a certified human officer on the record — that is the point the profession is careful to make, and it's why "digital reporter" describes a person, not a piece of software running unattended in the corner.

The path, step by step

Finish high school (or equivalent). That is the only formal education AAERT requires to sit for its exam. A college degree is not required.
Learn the craft. You don't need steno school, but you do need to know courtroom and deposition procedure, how to set up and monitor multi-channel audio, how to keep clean speaker logs, and how to handle exhibits and the oath. Many people learn through short digital-reporter training programs — several universities' continuing-education departments (Texas State, the University of Central Florida, Milwaukee Area Technical College, and others) run online courses built to prepare you for the AAERT exam. Others come up through an agency, training on the job.
Become eligible for a notary commission. Because a reporter administers the oath, AAERT requires that you be eligible for a notary public commission in your state (rules for that are set state by state).
Pass the certification exam. The national credential is AAERT's Certified Electronic Reporter (CER). If your state runs its own program, take that route too (see below).
Check what your state requires. This is the step people skip and regret — the rules differ enormously (see the state section). Confirm with your state's certifying board before you take work.
Build the transcript side. Capturing the record is half the job; producing a clean, court-formatted transcript is the other half. Many reporters also earn AAERT's Certified Electronic Transcriber (CET), or partner with transcribers, to deliver the finished pages.

Certification: AAERT's CER and CET (now part of CAPTUR)

The long-standing national certifying body for this field is AAERT — the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers. In 2026, AAERT merged with STAR (the Society for the Technological Advancement of Reporting) to form CAPTUR, the Council for the Advancement of Professionals, Technology, and Unbiased Reporting; the merger culminated at the Unity Summit in Nashville in May 2026. AAERT's respected certifications are being integrated into CAPTUR, so if you see either name, they refer to the same certification lineage.

There are two credentials, one for each half of the work:

	CER — Certified Electronic Reporter	CET — Certified Electronic Transcriber
What it covers	Capturing the record — digitally recording court and non-court proceedings (trials, hearings, depositions, EUOs, statements)	Producing the record — transcribing a digital recording verbatim into a formatted transcript
Exam	188-question online knowledge exam, 120 minutes	157-question knowledge exam (120 min) plus a practical: produce a transcript from supplied audio (180 min)
Passing score	80% or higher	80% on knowledge; 95% accuracy on the practical
Fee	$275	$275 (covers both portions)

The shared prerequisites are modest: a high school diploma or equivalent, eligibility for a notary public commission, and joining AAERT as a professional member within 30 days of passing. You do not have to be a member to test, and one year of experience or coursework is recommended but not required. In AAERT's own words, the CER exam tests knowledge of:

"court and non-court proceedings, reporting protocols and digital reporting software and equipment, general legal procedures, ethical and professional behavior, and vocabulary." AAERT, Certification Program (aaert.org)

Does your state require a license?

This is where the honest answer is "it depends," and it depends a lot. Certification to make a record is regulated at the state level, and the states fall into roughly three groups:

No certification required. A number of states let you work as an electronic reporter without any state credential — though holding the AAERT certification opens far more work, because agencies and courts often require it even where the state doesn't.
AAERT (or equivalent) certification required. Some states, such as Georgia and Michigan, require certification to report or prepare transcripts.
State-run certification programs. Some states certify reporters through their own boards. Michigan, for example, certifies court reporters and recorders through the state courts' Court Reporting & Recording Board of Review — and note the acronym trap: Michigan's state credential is the "Certified Electronic Recorder (CER)," which is not the same as AAERT's "Certified Electronic Reporter (CER)." Same three letters, different issuer.

Because the map changes as states amend their rules, treat any list you find — including the industry's state-by-state summaries — as a starting point, and confirm the current requirement with your own state's board before you rely on it. The one safe generalization: the AAERT credential is recognized nationally, so it is rarely the wrong thing to have.

What it pays, and the honest job outlook

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics groups this work under one occupation, "Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners," and reports:

Figure	Value (BLS, most recent)
Median annual wage	$67,310 (May 2024)
Lowest 10% / highest 10%	Under $39,100 / over $127,020
Jobs held	About 17,700 (2024)
Projected change, 2024–2034	"Little or no change"
Projected annual openings	About 1,700 per year, on average

Two honest caveats. First, BLS reports all reporting methods — stenographic, voice, and digital — as a single occupation, so there is no separate BLS wage or growth figure for digital reporters alone. Second, "little or no change" is a flat headline, but the roughly 1,700 openings a year come largely from reporters retiring or leaving the field faster than schools replace them — and the shift within that number has been toward digital, as agencies and courts adopt audio capture to cover a long-running shortage of stenographers. So the opportunity for a new digital reporter is real even though the overall occupation isn't projected to grow. And for freelance deposition work, the headline wage understates the picture: freelancers are typically paid per page of transcript on top of an attendance fee, so earnings track volume more than any salary table.

Primary sources

AAERT — Certification Program (CER and CET exam structure, scores, prerequisites)
AAERT — CAPTUR merger details and the AAERT/STAR merger announcement
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners, Occupational Outlook Handbook (wages, employment, outlook)
Michigan Courts — Court Reporters and Recorders Certification Program (an example of a state-run program)

Common questions

Do you need to go to school to become a digital court reporter?

No stenography school is required — that's the whole difference. AAERT requires only a high school diploma to sit for its exam. Short training programs (many online) help you prepare and learn courtroom procedure, but they aren't legally mandatory; experience or coursework is recommended, not required.

How long does it take?

For most people, weeks to a few months to train, get a notary commission, and pass the exam — versus two to four years for the stenographic path. Your state's rules and your own study pace set the exact timeline.

Is a digital court reporter the same as an electronic court reporter?

Yes — interchangeable terms for the same role. The national credential, AAERT's Certified Electronic Reporter (CER), uses the older word.

What certification do I need?

The recognized national credential is AAERT's CER (now part of CAPTUR): a 188-question exam, 80% to pass, $275, plus a high school diploma and notary eligibility. Whether it's legally required depends on your state; certification opens far more work either way.

How much do digital court reporters make?

BLS reports a median of $67,310 (May 2024) across all reporting methods, ranging from under $39,100 to over $127,020. Freelance deposition reporters are usually paid per page on top of an attendance fee, so volume matters more than any single figure.

This guide summarizes publicly available certification requirements, labor statistics, and state programs for general information. Requirements change and vary by state — confirm the current rules with your state's certifying board and with AAERT/CAPTUR before relying on them. This is not legal or career advice.

The transcript is the other half of the job. Once you've captured a clean recording, Stenobox turns it into a court-formatted draft — Q&A designations, speaker labels, dates and numbers by the book — with every doubtful word flagged and linked to its moment in the audio, so you verify instead of type from scratch. See how it works or start a free trial.

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